


Of Kids And Cotton Candy

by infectedscrew



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression, Carnival Rides, De-aging, Dick is a kid again, Fair Food, Gen, no one is happy about it, summertime fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6776047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infectedscrew/pseuds/infectedscrew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dick suddenly finds himself much smaller than normal, it’s up to Tim and Damian to find new ways to entertain him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Perplexing Situations

“There is no way,” Damian growled, pinching his nose. He was leaning against the Bat mobile, trying to stop his growing head ache. He looked up only when he heard a snort.

Across from him, Tim Drake was standing with his arms crossed doing a rather good impression of Bruce’s Batman glare. “It’s not really your place to say,” he replied, eyebrow arching toward his hairline. “Besides,” he paused, gray eyes tracking a form moving around the cave. “He needs to get out.”

Damian shook his head. “No, Drake,” he stated, pushing off of the vehicle. “There’s no way.”

“Damian,” Tim snapped. “He isn’t a bat. He needs to get some air. If he stays in here any longer he–”

“Timmy! When did you get so tall?” Dick Grayson, Tim’s idol, Damian’s partner and Gotham’s Batman dropped down next to them. Although, he was a much shorter, skinny, younger looking Dick Grayson. To be more clear, Dick was now the size and shape of a twelve year old; with all the energy to match.

Tim sighed. He looked down at Dick. This would be the first time in his life that he was taller than Dick but it didn’t really make him feel all that smug. Instead, he was deeply irritated.

“Two days ago when you ran into the Joker,” he deadpanned.

On Batman and Robin’s last patrol, they had set out to stop the Joker’s latest ply at evil. He had gotten it into his little green head that his life would be much more fun if every adult in the world was a child. And stealing the Clock King’s scepter of time seemed like the perfect way to do it. The plan was quickly spoiled when Batman crushed the scepter. There was only one problem, the chemicals in the scepter reacted rather badly with Batman’s DNA. Thus, Robin was stuck dragging a twelve year old Dick all the way back to the hideout.

Dick had managed to stay calm for about two hours. Then, he was bouncing off of the walls, getting into everything his little hands could get to. After three hours of that, Damian had been forced to call in Tim, as Alfred seemed more content with baking cookies.

Now, Tim was trying to convince Damian to let Dick outside. “Look, Damian,” Tim started, keeping his eyes on Dick. “I’ll tell you what. There is a fair in town. We’ll take him to that. If something goes wrong…” He trailed off trying to think of a suitable trade off.

“You’ll take me off your list.”

Tim blinked, his mouth opening before snapping close. He nodded. “Fine. Only because, for once, you’d be right.”

Damian glared at him. “Don’t push your luck, Drake,” he hissed.


	2. Death Scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking Dick to the fair had sounded like a good idea at the time.

“Grayson! Stop moving!”

“Damian, stop yelling at him.”

“I want to go see that!”

Needless to say, taking Dick to the fair hadn’t been the greatest idea Tim had ever had. Although, to be fair, it was mostly because Damian was determined to stop Dick from having fun at all. He kept snapping at the former Batman and tugging him back to his side. Honestly, Tim had seen less strict parents on a military base.

“Damian, the whole point of taking Dick outside was for him to have fun,” Tim sighed, rubbing his head.

Damian shook his head. “You said take him outside. Not cause destruction every where.”

“What do you think he’s going to do? Blow up Gotham?” Tim snapped.

Before he could get an answer, a loud shriek cut over them. Both male’s instantly tensed, ready for battle. Dick only looked insanely curious. All three looked over to see a blonde teenage girl, launch herself at Dick.

“He’s adorable!” Stephanie Brown, the newest girl to take up the Batgirl title, wrapped her strong arms around Dick’s neck. She was positively beaming.

Cassandra Cain, Batman’s liaison in Hong Kong stepped up next to Tim. She nodded silently at him, her black hair pulled out of her face by a simple, pink headband. That had to belong to Stephanie, Tim decided.

“What are you doing here?” Damian demanded when Stephanie finally let go of a rather bemused Dick.

Stephanie stood up, her hands dropping to her hips. “What? A girl can’t enjoy a fair?” She asked, smiling.

“Not you two,” Damian returned.

Tim and Stephanie shared a glance.

Cassandra looked down at Dick, who was staring up at her with an expression akin to a challenge. She arched an eyebrow at him and he giggled.

“Timmy!” Dick suddenly pipped up, grabbing Tim’s hand. “Tim! I want to go on that.” He threw his hand out to point at his interest.

Tim looked over and groaned, deeply. “There is no way–”

“No, I think you should,” Damian cut in. “After all, you think Grayson should be having fun.”

For a long moment, the two males glared at each other. Then, Tim sighed. From Damian’s glare, to Dick’s constant whining, he had clearly lost this battle.

“Fine,” he hissed. His hand closed around Dick’s and he started to drag him off to the most dangerous, rickety, wooden, roller coaster Gotham had ever seen.

He stepped into the line, while Dick, literally, jumped around him.

“Man oh man! I am so excited!” Dick cheered as he moved around. “You have no idea, Tim! I’m so excited I could… I could…” He stopped when he really couldn’t think of anything.

“Throw up?” Tim mumbled.

Dick stared at him. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Tickets please,” the, clearly bored, fair worker demanded.

Tim dug into his pocket and pulled out the small stack of tickets they had purchased earlier. The worker waved them onto a small platform. Another worker, this one much more cheerful as she babbled out the rules and guidelines, helped them into their car and strapped them in.

Not even the metal bar was enough to stop Dick from wriggling around. Tim, at this point was feeling rather queasy. He glanced over to see Stephanie waving at him, Damian smirking and Cassandra looking the other direction. He sighed.

The car gave a small jolt and they were moving up the wooden planks. Tim leaned back in his seat. Dick leaned forward. The car stuttered up a slowly steeping hill. At the tip, the car paused and the passengers could easily see out to the Gotham Docks, nearly five miles away. Another jerk and the car dropped.

Dick’s scream was one of pure joy; Tim’s was pure terror.

Vaguely, Tim was sure he could hear Damian laughing.


	3. Challenge Accepted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Jason has a good idea or two.

When they finally got off the ride of death, Tim was pretty sure his legs would never work again. His knees shook. Where his body was becoming a puddle of goop, Dick was just a ball of energy. He bounded off of the platform, laughing richly.

“That was so awesome!” He cheered, punching the air. “You should so do it, D!” He stated, staring at Damian was such an intense stare it was a little terrifying.

Damian shook his head, still smirking. “No, I think Drake had enough fun for all of us.”

Dick pouted slightly before his attention was caught by a cotton candy vendor. He gave a small chirp before rushing off. Instantly, Stephanie, Damian and Cassandra were after him. Tim was left standing next to the fence, trying to will his knees to work normally.

“Don’t ride much, do you?”

Tim’s head snapped up at the new voice. His eyes narrowed. “What do you want Jason?” He asked.

“Hard to look threatening when you’re doubled over like an old man,” Jason returned. He pushed off of the fence he had been leaning against and ran a hand through his two-toned hair. “What happened to Dickie bird?” He asked, nodding to where Damian was trying to stop Dick from mauling the cotton candy worker.

Tim glanced over. He shrugged and stood up. “Another night in Gotham,” he replied.

Jason nodded, a smirk pulling over his sharp features. “Have you shown him the games yet?” He asked.

Tim shook his head. “Didn’t plan to.” That earned him a disapproving tut. “What, genius?” He asked, glaring.

“He needs to burn off his energy. At least let him earn some prizes while he does it,” the former Robin replied. He winked at Tim before shoving his hands on his pocket and striding confidently toward the rest of the vigilantes.

After a moment, Tim followed. By the time he had arrived, Dick had been supplied with the biggest serving of cotton candy and the other three had been informed of Jason’s ‘plan’.

“That actually doesn’t sound too bad,” Stephanie admitted, her hands on her hips. She shrugged at Damian’s glower. “Hey, if his throwing arm is as good as when he’s an adult, I want him to get me that stuffed panda I saw.”

“They have millions of those in China,” Cassandra sighed.

“Yea, but this panda is here.” Stephanie smiled at the quiet girl.

Damian glanced over at Tim. “You suggested this to Todd didn’t you?”

“Hey, hey,” Jason interrupted, lifting his hands. “I can think of my own ideas.”

“Once in awhile,” Tim said, smoothly. “It was his idea, Damian, but I think it’s a good one.” He couldn’t stop the smirk when Damian glared at him. “What? Afraid he’s going to beat you?”

That was the deal breaker. Damian grabbed Dick’s hand, the one not occupied with eating and hauled him off. All the way to the games he muttered about 'non-believers’ and 'childish antics’. Dick, meanwhile, happily munched away at his sweet treat, eyes wide and curious. The small group arrived at the game section. Damian stopped at the first game they came to. He dropped Dick’s hand and stepped over to it.

“Feeling lucky, young man?” The man behind the counter asked. He was smirking widely. He drummed his hands on the wood.

The game was an old fashioned bottle-shot game. The kind where players had to knock the pyramid of metal bottles over. The kind no one won.

Damian thrust his stack of tickets at the man.

“Dick, do you want to play?” Tim asked, glancing down at the once much older man.

Dick paused, his mouth full of pink sugar. After a painful looking swallow he beamed and nodded his head vigorously. He thrust his empty cotton candy stick into Tim’s hands. Then held out a stick hand for his own tickets. As soon as he got them, he leapt over to the counter and demanded the man give him a baseball.

With a laugh, the man reached under and pulled out a bucket of baseballs for each young man. “You’ve got five chances,” he stated. “After that, you’ve got to pay for a new game. Who wants to go first?” He asked.

Already Damian was lifted his arm. The worker stepped back with a smile. Five throws later and the bottles hadn’t even shifted.

Behind him, Stephanie and Jason were gasping for breath. Cassandra was looking politely away. Tim, with his arms crossed was smirking widely.

“Your turn, Dick,” Tim called, voice quite smug.

Damian cursed, shoved the bucket away from him and glared.

Dick, not at all put off by the anger, lifted his own baseball. His arm cocked back, tensing. Then, he let it fly forward.

WHAM!

The bottles shivered. Not giving them a chance to settle, Dick launched two more in quick succession. Three bottles fell backwards. While they were still falling, Dick threw the last two baseballs.

Silence dropped over the group.

“That was… Amazing,” the worker said. He looked over to Dick, eyes wide, smile frozen in place. “You get one of the grand prizes, kid. What do you want?” He pointed up above to a row of the biggest stuffed animals in existence.

Dick looked up, considering. “That one!” He pointed.

Behind him, Tim snorted, Damian and Jason shared a groan and Stephanie was once again laughing. Cassandra looked politely amused.

For the next two hours, Dick raced around the game section, one arm curled happily around his first prize; a large Superman doll. Every so often, he would challenge the rest of the group to another game. Damian never took the challenges, not after Tim’s relentless teasing. However, the rest didn’t want to disappoint the new found child. They each promised him a game and each failed miserably.

By the end, Dick had won Stephanie her panda. Cassandra earned a silver bat shaped necklace. Jason received a water gun that was disturbingly realistic (with a 'you should use this instead’). Damian got a t-shirt promoting Batman. Tim was won a brand new journal ('for all your crazy lists).


	4. Explosive End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day closes at the carnival.

“Timmy…” Dick whined, dropping the disc he was supposed to be throwing. He was frowning deeply, blue eyes dark with annoyance.

Tim, who had been arguing the finer points of exploding bat-a-rangs with Jason, looked over. He arched an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I’m hungry,” Dick stated, refusing to pick up the little metal disc, no matter how much the carnival worker growled at him.

Stephanie huffed a laugh. She leaned over to pick up the forgotten weapon. With a smile, she handed it over to the worker. The man snatched it from her, grumbling about disrespectful teenagers. She would have given him a piece of her mind had it not been for Cassandra’s hand on her arm.

“Well, what do you want to eat?” Tim asked as soon as Dick had returned to his side.

“Hotdogs,” Damian supplied.

“Didn’t ask you, Damian,” Tim replied, not looking at the little Wayne.

“Hotdogs,” Dick said.

Tim groaned. He shot a glare at Damian, who was smirking at him. “Fine, come on.” He gestured for Dick to follow. Instead, the tiny twelve year old grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the food carts.

“You look like a proper babysitter,” Jason commented. The rest of the group trailed after Tim and Dick, each with their own expression of amusement.

It didn’t take long at all for Dick to spot a hotdog cart. When he did, he was practically dragging Tim across the dirt field to get there. Stephanie pulled Cassandra away to get a pastry instead, saying that hotdogs only made you fat. Damian demanded that Tim get him a hotdog because of all the trouble he had caused. Jason, meanwhile, only trailed along looking three seconds away from laughter. Although, when Tim finally got up to order, he subtly stepped up and asked that a corn dog be added to the list.

Finally, everyone had what they wanted. Stephanie and Cassandra had their pastries. Dick and Damian received their hotdogs loaded up with everything possible. And Jason was happily chewing away at his corn dog. Tim had decided against eating, he still didn’t feel all that right from the roller coaster of doom.

“Let’s sit over here,” Stephanie said, pointing at a row of tables next to a large field.

“But there’s no shade,” Tim said, frowning softly.

“What, afraid your delicate skin will get burned?” Damian snorted before taking a monstrous bite of his meal.

Tim rolled his eyes, not bothering to return a comment. Instead, he dropped a hand onto Dick’s shoulder and gently guided him toward the tables. He made sure that the former Batman was settled before he sat down. Or, at least, he tried to, Damian slid right into the spot he was about to sit at, almost knocking him off balance. He would have growled but stopped himself and shifted to sit on Dick’s other side.

“You know, one day that weird worship thing is going to go away,” Jason said, seating himself across from Tim.

“What worship thing?” Damian asked, glaring at the male.

Tim snorted. He rested his chin in hand.

For the next few minutes, the table was blissfully silent as each person ate, or in Tim’s case, sat. As soon as he was done, Damian shoved his trash across the table, into Tim’s hands. Not a second later, Dick did the same thing. Eventually, the others followed suit. It was with no small amount of grumbling that Tim gathered up the trash. He continued to mumble under his breath as he made his way over to the trash bins.

On his way back, he stopped to grab a bottle of water. His hands were sticky and Dick’s were most assuredly going to be too.

“Give my your hands,” Tim said, softly, taking Dick’s in his. The tiny male watched in amazement as the dirty, grimy mess called his hands was steadily removed.

“Such a mother,” Damian teased, looking particularly masculine as he smirked.

Without a word, Tim reached forward and grabbed one of Damian’s wrists. He started to scrub off the hotdog mess, with considerably less gentleness than he had used on Dick.

Damian’s curse was drowned out by a loud explosion.

Each member of the table tensed and looked up. Bright red and gold was showering across the sky. A second later, a whistle shattered the evening air followed by another explosion. This time, the darkening sky was covered in blues and white.

“Fireworks!” Dick cheered, standing up on the bench and cheering.

Stephanie laughed, clapping in joy. Jason blinked, bemused. Tim released Damian’s wrist and placed a steadying hand to Dick’s lower back, there was no need for him to fall. Cassandra let out a small, happy sigh; whether she admitted it or not, she loved fireworks. Damian, ever the miniature adult, shifted in his seat and stared at the sky with enough intensity to put Batman to shame.

Behind them, a crowd formed to watch the display with them. As each explosion went off, shouts of shock and amusement came up from the gathering. The lights shown out over the carnival, lighting up a carefree occasion. For an hour, the fireworks went off, each one more dazzling than the last.

Tim glanced back at the crowd, then to the table where his impromptu family was cheering on the controlled explosions. Finally, a tiny, pleased smile crossed over his face.

Going out on the town hadn’t been a bad idea after all.


End file.
